The departing IndyCar hero who can't let go

"I tell you, it's been a crazy-busy last couple of days," chuckles Tony Kanaan on the Tuesday after his 'final' IndyCar race. "All of a sudden people want to talk to me, just as I said I was gonna slow down. There will be opportunities, I know, but what they'll be I don't know.

"Truthfully, when I made my announcement in February, I expected this year to be all the ovals, and then next year probably just the Indy 500. But because of how strange this year has been, without fans at most tracks, I want to do all the ovals again next year.

"And if the right opportunity comes up then for sure, that's what I will try to do. But as I said about a thousand times over the weekend in Gateway, it doesn't matter what I want. What I want is not going to control what happens.

"We have to be realistic. I need to find a sponsor and a team, and so I need to get talking to partners I've been with for ages like Bryant and 7-Eleven and Big Machine, and see if we can go put something together for the five ovals, or just Indy and another couple of races, or just Indy... And the uncertainty in the world right now makes it even more difficult, because no one is sure what kind of budget they might have. The timing is... not good."

Ex-team-mates and friends of Kanaan are far more positive about his prospects than he is, the consensus being that the double-header at Gateway on the last weekend of August, which included an encouraging ninth and a dispiriting 19th, were not TK's final IndyCar races.

"Let me go on record as saying I don't believe Tony's written his last chapter in open-wheel, the whole '#TKLastLap' thing notwithstanding," says Bryan Herta, whose first connection with Kanaan came in 2000 when he subbed for the injured Brazilian at
Mo Nunn Racing for three CART Indycar races.

Three years later, they became team-mates for four seasons at what was then called Andretti Green Racing in the Indy Racing League and, by default, Herta took on the professorial role in the Gang of Four that comprised himself, Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Dan Wheldon.

"He really captured the fans' imagination and rose to become one of the most popular drivers in US open-wheel for the last 25 years," continues Herta. "That will be his legacy - his talent, yes, but also his popularity, his enthusiasm, his infectious personality and connection with the fans."

Kanaan's regular bad luck at Indianapolis Motor Speedway - he was constantly a factor there and led well over 200 laps of IMS before he finally nailed a win on his 12th attempt in 2013 - was part of Kanaan's allure to the fans. But there was more to it than that.

"He spent eight years in one of the best teams and regularly looked like he was going to win the 500 and then something would go wrong. And however frustrating it must have been for him, he managed to keep a smile on his face" Bryan Herta

Whereas Marco Andretti - who replaced Ganassi-bound Wheldon in 2006 - emulated his father in being almost painfully shy, and Franchitti and Herta were quite happy flying under the radar and would look surprised if approached for an autograph, Kanaan revelled in the recognition. He was gregarious, spontaneous, made fans chuckle, and he'd sign anything and everything that was shoved under his nose.

"Bad luck at the Speedway was definitely part of Tony's appeal to fans," says Herta, "but it was also how he handled it. He spent eight years in one of the best teams and regularly looked like he was going to win the 500 and then something would go wrong.

"And however frustrating it must have been for him, he managed to keep a smile on his face in the down times, didn't let his head drop, and people appreciated that. Then, when he won it, he stayed popular. And that's why I don't think he's done yet. I think he'll do everything he can to say goodbye to the fans in person."

Franchitti agrees. "When I talked [in 2013] about my plans, I was going to do one more year, and I had already planned my exit," says the four-time champion and three-time Indy 500 winner, whose career was brought to an abrupt halt by a shunt at Houston in 2013. "I don't think Tony - or Helio [Castroneves], for that matter - are at that stage yet. They still feel they have more to achieve in IndyCar, and I hope they get the opportunities."

Kanaan acknowledges that Franchitti was part of the reason he got the gig at Andretti Green in 2003, and they made a strong team. Franchitti's polished, smooth Al Unser Jr-style steering and throttle inputs on road courses gave Kanaan a gold standard to aim for in order to improve his technique, while TK's natural aggression and bravery informed the Scot just what would be required to succeed in the formation-flying-on-the-ground IRL IndyCar era.

Such was Franchitti's regard for Kanaan in their five years at AGR, you can bet he had a word in Chip Ganassi's ear about employing Kanaan as his replacement for 2014. He, and others, aren't comfortable with the fact that Kanaan got branded with the 'oval specialist' tag.

"He learned his skills in Europe, on road courses, and he made himself good at ovals," says Franchitti. "I think over the years the tyres changed and that went against Tony's driving style by the time he came to Ganassi.

"But while I was driving, I honestly felt he was a threat on any kind of track. You always had to look out for him, just as you do still now on ovals. And if you're talking about non-ovals, just look at how good he was in sportscars. He was blindingly fast. Look at the Sebring 12 Hours win [AGR Acura LMP2, with Franchitti and Herta in 2007]; he held up his corner, and he was obviously rapid in Ganassi's sportscar too.

PLUS: Ranking the 10 greatest drives of a modern Indycar hero

"He and I always raced each other with respect whether we were team-mates or not; we always had each other's back. But as team-mates we worked so well together because we had a very good offset in the Andretti Green team as it was called then.

"If one guy liked this set-up, we knew what the other three would need to do to adopt it and then adapt it a little to their taste. As a unit, we worked very, very efficiently, which is one of the reasons we were so successful at the time. And even when Bryan retired and Dan went to Ganassi, Tony and I continued to bounce ideas off each other."

Kanaan also became renowned for his starts and restarts that escaped censure, but weren't always... by the book, let's say.

"Yeah, there were times when I'd say to him afterward, 'Tony, you jumped that restart didn't you?'" recalls Franchitti, "and he'd be saying, 'Noooo, no I didn't,' all innocent. Like I remember Indianapolis 2012, me and [Scott] Dixon were up front and Tony was restarting seventh, and when he came past me I reckon he was already in fifth gear! I was thinking, 'Oh, come on! No way!'"

Franchitti observes that Kanaan was a tough competitor in the other sense, too.

"One year at Indy, he had a huge shunt," he says. "He hit the wall twice and by the time he made the second impact, the deformable structure of the car had gone and so it was big.

"I went to visit him at his bus, and he was so bruised. He was joking about it, but he had one of those sleep-lumbar beds and he had to set it on zero, the softest setting, before he could even attempt to lie down... I thought he was unbelievably brave."

Franchitti also lays to rest the conspiracy theory that he deliberately shunted at Indy in 2013 with three laps to go once he saw Kanaan's KV Racing Dallara-Chevrolet was in front, thereby causing a caution period that would last until the twin-chequers.

"In a good car, he's one of the best ever at Indy. That he only won there once belies his prowess around that place" Michael Cannon

"No, I didn't crash on purpose!" he laughs. "For one thing, I didn't know Tony was leading and secondly, Chip would have killed me! Also, if I was going to crash, I would pick a slower track and have a much softer impact than Turn 1 at Indy. That one hurt!"

Considering he spent eight years at Andretti Autosport and four at Ganassi, it seems odd to reflect that Kanaan achieved his Indy 500 triumph in between those two stints, driving for the much smaller Kevin Kalkhoven/Jimmy Vasser-owned KV Racing. But then it was surprising to many that Michael Andretti had let him go.

Ryan Hunter-Reay had joined the team in 2010 and had shown greater proficiency on most road and street courses, but still TK had won at Iowa Speedway and scored enough points elsewhere to end the season sixth in the championship, the highest non-Penske/Ganassi driver. Hunter-Reay recalls that season with some affection.

"It was a pleasure and we hit it off right away," says the 2012 champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner. "We drove very similar set-ups and had very similar needs from the car, so we got along both personally and professionally. We both need a car that has a very strong front end, handles on the nose because we're both super-late brakers, and late turn-in.

"It was an interesting transitional time at Andretti Autosport, 2010, in terms of structure - that was the first year of Michael being sole owner - and also in terms of set-up philosophy. We spent countless days at Sebring reworking the road course set-ups, and I got on well with my other team-mates [Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick], but with Tony it was even more productive because we were working toward the same goal handling-wise. I think we could feel we were taking steps forward."

But when Andretti's team lost the 7-Eleven funding for car #11, Kanaan was out of a ride and he arrived at KV in 2011 somewhat shellshocked and grateful. It had been a late signing, as had been that of Michael Cannon as his race engineer. By mid-season, however, the gratitude was on hold, and Kanaan was recognising the KV team's flaws compared with Andretti Autosport.

His seniority, his several wins and his 13 years of experience meant he was given free rein by Vasser and Kalkhoven to start trying to lure the people he wanted. Cannon would be one of the victims - replaced by TK's long-time friend and favourite race engineer Eric Cowdin - but the former won't let that affect his judgement of TK, the driver.

"In a good car, he's one of the best ever at Indy," says Cannon. "That he only won there once belies his prowess around that place. And actually the same could be said about TK and any oval or superspeedway."

It's a pity it didn't work out for Kanaan and Cannon because they provided the team with a much-needed and dependable baseline, and TK would end up fifth in the championship - yes, higher than he had finished the previous year with Andretti Autosport.

"One thing to know about Tony is that he's a very self-driven individual and in that regard he was very good for the team," says Kalkhoven, who eventually shuttered KV Racing at the conclusion of the 2016 season.

"He's an interesting character, and he was very demanding of the team, but so he should have been. That's how you win the 500, that's how you win a championship, and Tony did both in his career. I thought of him as very professional, and very determined.

"Now, was he out there to help his team-mates? No, definitely not. With the exception of Rubens Barrichello, I wouldn't say Tony had the same relationship with his team-mates on our team [Takuma Sato, EJ Viso, Simona de Silvestro] that he'd had at Andretti. But they were much less experienced than him and so they stood to benefit because he was trying to make the team better, and I think he did.

"He gave us a consistency that we hadn't seen for a few years. He was an emotional Brazilian and a strong-headed driver who wants to win, and I'd say it was a pleasure to work with him. And he won us the 500."

With his stock that much higher - as well as the Indy triumph, he scored nine podiums with KV over three years - and with Chip Ganassi having forgiven Kanaan for spurning a contract offer in 2008, the two united when Franchitti got hurt.

"There were definitely tracks or circumstances where I might find the car undriveable because of too much understeer and he could just deal with it" Scott Dixon

Kanaan won the 2014 finale at Fontana and over four seasons with the squad he was usually Dixon's equal on ovals, and was unlucky not to score a couple more wins. But he was usually overshadowed by the Kiwi and never finished higher than seventh in the championship. That said, if you consider Dixon as one of Indycar racing's all-time greats (surely not a matter for dispute any more), actually TK did rather well.

Dixon has always credited his three years as team-mate to Wheldon for upping his oval game, and his five seasons alongside Franchitti as hammering home how much data study and verbal mulling was needed over a race weekend to improve the car. So what did Dixon absorb from his four years working with Kanaan?

"You know, no matter who your team-mates are, you always learn from them," he says. "I think of TK and I think of his aggression and his restarts. He was also very open with his feedback, although that is kind of expected at Ganassi anyway. But as far as driving is concerned, there were definitely tracks or circumstances where I might find the car undriveable because of too much understeer and he could just deal with it.

"We had quite different techniques, which explains some of the difference, but I was definitely shocked at how quick he could be in a situation where I know for sure I wasn't able to give my best because I couldn't get my head around how to deal with a car that pushed so much."

This seems at odds with Hunter-Reay's description of what he and Kanaan sought from a car's handling...

"Oh, I'm not saying Tony liked major understeer," Dixon clarifies. "I'm just saying he was impressive at being able to adapt to it. He could somehow still get the car to rotate and keep up a strong pace. I think that also explains why he was so good in the Ford GT when he went to Spa and Le Mans. He just immediately adapted and was bloody fast.

"To be honest, the unfortunate thing for TK when he was with us was that in the races where he was really strong, some crazy dumb things would happen. Like I remember him missing out on wins at Iowa and Pocono because of badly timed yellows, stuff outside of his or the team's control.

"But I enjoyed him as a team-mate. He's very motivated, positive and uplifting, and we had a really good time. There's no doubt Eric Cowdin [race engineer] took a lot of crap from him, but he had worked with TK from way back and knew how to deal with it, so TK having a go at him almost became an inside joke among the team.

"And to be honest, I'm probably too laid back, maybe not confrontational enough, whereas if Tony saw something that he didn't like or thought was wrong he would speak up. I respected that."

Cowdin is now at Dale Coyne Racing, race-engineering for rookie Alex Palou, but he probably knows Kanaan better than anyone in the IndyCar paddock, having engineered him for 16 of the past 24 years and in six different teams.

Cowdin first encountered Kanaan in late 1995, when Tasman Motorsports - where he was chief engineer - auditioned eight drivers for the Marlboro-backed programme in Indy Lights. Kanaan made himself indispensible by being fastest on both days of the two-day test, and Tasman owner Steve Horne picked Castroneves for the second seat since he was second fastest, despite broken ribs restricting him to just one day of running.

Kanaan would finish second in his rookie season of Indy Lights in 1996, then won it in 1997. He graduated to CART Indycars in 1998 while Cowdin hung back in the Lights team to guide Cristiano da Matta to the title, but he and TK would be reunited in the 'big cars' in 1999. Their bromance has continued over the past 20-plus years, which is remarkable given that Kanaan is a hard taskmaster renowned for chewing up and spitting out engineers.

"Yeah, it's the longest relationship I've had outside of my family," says Cowdin. "He even outlasted my first wife! I'm not sure why we worked together so well. All I can say is that we came from diametrically opposed worlds and backgrounds - nothing about our upbringings was even similar, other than from an early age we loved racing.

"And what I respect about Tony to this day is that I never, ever, ever had any doubts that he was driving anything less than at ten-tenths. I always knew exactly where the car was performance-wise because he was absolutely putting everything he could into it. And that was true at Tasman, Mo Nunn, Andretti Green as it was known then, KV, Ganassi and most recently at AJ Foyt Racing.

"Tony was just fantastic at grabbing a car by the scruff of the neck and dragging it around" Eric Cowdin

"For Tony, I guess he recognised I was always giving 100% for him. It wasn't engineering by committee where all engineers try and get every driver on the team up to a certain level. He knew I was always thinking in terms of, 'What can I do to make this car good enough where my guy can go fast?' And I think that's where his trust in me came from.

"I had no other agenda. I never hid anything from him, I never lied to him. Also, if there was something that needed to be said to him specifically, then I did it in private. So I was 100% behind him in front of others, and if I needed to be critical, I made sure it was just he and I in the room.

"With Tony, it's very black and white. If you burn him once, you are dead to him - there's no coming back from that. And I appreciate that. Loyalty is a big thing to him."

Although Dixon is impressed at how adaptable Kanaan was when confronted with an evolving handling balance, the vast differences between Kanaan's driving technique and, say, Franchitti's initially presented quite a challenge for the AGR team, when Cowdin engineered Kanaan and Allen McDonald ran Franchitti. Experience brought a solution.

"As in everything with Tony, his driving style is aggressive," recalls Cowdin, "but working side by side with Allen and Dario, we developed an offset whereby we could manipulate something that worked for Tony to work for Dario, and vice versa. So if TK found something he liked and that made his car quicker, we knew to do the same thing for Dario but change X and Y to suit his driving style, and vice versa."

And that applied way beyond the oval tracks. Cowdin, like anyone who has a memory that extends longer than a dozen years, knows that Kanaan could also excel on street courses.

"I think Tony was just fantastic at grabbing a car by the scruff of the neck and dragging it around!" he observes. "When I talked earlier about the frank conversations he and I would have in private, that would work both ways. If I missed something while trying to get the car right for him, I would sometimes have to tell him, 'I know this is a shitbox, I've failed miserably; now you're going to have to make up the difference,' and his simple response would be, 'All right'. There'd be no recrimination.

"People say he was emotional and they're right, but he could also be very pragmatic. After Dan's accident at Vegas [in 2011], Tony and I agreed we were both done with racing, it's not worth it, and so on. I'd just done three years at Penske running Ryan [Briscoe], and Tony had just done his first year with KV. But after talking every day on the phone for a week or more, we both realised that neither of us could come up with anything else to do! That's when we decided if we're gonna move forward, we'll do it as a unit, and so I joined him at KV in 2012."

Nor have they found a fulfilling alternative since, so when Ganassi cut his car count from four cars to two for 2018, Cowdin met with Kanaan at the exit door and together they headed to AJ Foyt Racing. For road and street course races, it was a switch from one end of the grid to the other, and most upsetting of all was watching Kanaan and team-mate Matheus Leist also struggle on some of the ovals. It wasn't that the #14 car was that far off the pace in real terms, but in the compressed world of spec racing, you don't have to miss by much to miss by a mile.

Cowdin doesn't wish to go into details since he has too much respect for many of the people still digging the team out of its hole - with a modicum of success too, it must be said. What he will say is that, "Nothing we could do was going to change the situation there. Tony and I went there with the best intentions and I can also guarantee I worked the hardest I have ever worked in racing those two years and Tony, as ever, gave it everything. Unfortunately we didn't have much to show for it."

While Cowdin loves working for Dale Coyne and with Palou, you can't rule out the idea of him joining forces with TK again some day, given their 16 shared seasons. In the course of a long conversation, Cowdin finally nails down what made him Kanaan's race engineer of choice: a high tolerance threshold and selective hearing.

"I guess if he is retiring, I can say what I want," he chuckles. "The key to dealing with Tony was knowing when to ignore him! He can be a pressure cooker after a practice session, or qualifying or a race. The pressure builds, the pressure builds, then the steam comes flying out and makes a bunch of noise, and then things goes back to normal.

"Well, over time, you learn not to take the sound of the steam too seriously. It's what comes afterward that is going to help make progress with the car. And you know when that point is when he finally starts a sentence that's actually constructive or informative - that's when you turn your hearing back on and say, 'Ah, that's good. Keep going along those lines.'

"He'll be greatly missed by the fans... but I'm 100% certain we'll see him back and he'll get the send-off he deserves" Ryan Hunter-Reay

"It's something I learned from Steve Horne back in the 1990s. He'd say, 'You're paid to make more right decisions than wrong decisions in this business, and in order to do that, emotion is your enemy'. And I think Tony recognised that as being true, but he still struggled to control his anger outside the cockpit if things weren't going well, so he looked to me to be the calm one for both of us!"

However much steam he was blowing off in the seclusion of the team trailers, Kanaan was very respectful to the fans and so many of them in turn loved him.

"Tony is the iron man of IndyCar racing," says Hunter-Reay. "He's had a long, very successful career and he's impacted a lot of people along the way and in a very positive manner. I think he'll be greatly missed by the fans... but like I said, I'm 100% certain we'll see him back and he'll get the send-off he deserves."

"On his day, TK was mighty," concludes Herta. "He had some very stout team-mates over the years, and he stacked up very well. He won a lot of races, including the Indy 500. He won a championship. And he became the people's champion. So, I think it's fair to say he achieved a lot more than most of us can even dream of!

"But I think he's going to achieve even more. He's not done yet."